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While rummaging for some documents at his home in Melbourne, Australia, a man came across a deadly snake, curled up in his paper drawer.
Snake catcher Mark Pelley, aka the Snake Hunter, was called to the scene to remove the venomous visitor and was shocked by what he saw.
"I have never seen that before in my life," Pelley said in footage of the incident, which he shared to Facebook on March 15. "I just can't believe that with my own eyes—a brown snake in a drawer!"
In the footage, the eastern brown snake can be seen tucked away in an open card among the drawer's contents.
After much deliberation, Pelley and the residents figured out that the snake must have snuck into the drawer from a nearby bookshelf after it was left open. His wife had seen the open drawer and closed it, trapping the snake inside. Then, when her husband came back to open the drawer, he saw the snake (and swiftly closed the drawer again).
"Snakes like to hide," Pelley told Newsweek. "It would have tried to hide by being in the drawer."
Eastern brown snakes are considered to have the second-most toxic venom in the world and are responsible for more snakebite fatalities than any other species in Australia. That might sound like a lot, but considering how rare snake bite deaths are, this amounts to about one to two deaths per year, according to the University of Melbourne.
Their bite contains a powerful neurotoxin, which progressively paralyzes the nerves of the victim's heart, lungs and diaphragm, causing them to suffocate.
The snakes are found across a wide range of habitats throughout eastern and southern Australia, including some of the most populated parts of the country. As a result, run-ins with these reptiles are not uncommon.
Despite their reputation of being aggressive, eastern brown snakes will usually choose to flee if they are disturbed and will only bite if they are provoked.
In the footage of the incident, the brown snake in question seems unperturbed by the discovery of its hiding place. The video has been viewed over 4,000 times on Facebook and has received dozens of concerned comments.
"I will call the snake hunter when I've finished screaming if I see a snake in one of my drawers," said one.
"Yikes!!!! Not ideal," said another.
Pelley said that, if you should ever find a snake in your home, you should call in a professional to remove it.
About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more